Harry Potter and the Next Generation of Snape
by amylase126
Summary: Harry, Ron, and Hermione are in for a wild year. When three new girls arrive at Hogwarts, conspiracies, romance, and adventures take flight. Story is currently on hiatus.
1. New Friends

**A/N: Oh, Kate Anne, how I've missed you! Anyways, while my pen name may have changed (formerly AmeliaandGobby, now amylase126), I am still the same author! I've found myself with far too much free time on my hands and am attempting to resurrect this story. I'm in the process of tweaking what's already written, to make it far better, and (hopefully) easier to follow. If any fans of the story are still out there, I am sorry for vanishing for so long, and hopefully you enjoy the newly improved version!**

**Disclaimer: I sadly only own Kate Anne, Ana Maria, and Adrianna.**

**XXXX**

Kate Anne stood staring at the barrier between platforms nine and ten at King's Cross Station in London. It was five minutes to eleven. Suddenly she heard a loud commotion behind her and spun around to see a nervous looking blonde girl around her age struggling to haul her trunk back onto her cart after having rammed said cart into a brick wall.

'Wrong barrier!" she shouted to herself attracting a lot of muggle stares.

Kate Anne cautiously approached the girl with a confused stare on her face. "Are you lost?" she asked in a quiet voice, tucking a strand of ebony hair behind her ear.

"No. I'm perfectly fine thank you very much," the girl said, the sarcasm dripping from every word.

"Alright, but if you happen to be looking for platform nine and three quarters it's over there." Kate Anne replied, pointing in towards the correct barrier.

Suddenly, the girl burst out in tears. "I'm sorry, it's just that I can't find this stupid platform and I only have five minutes left and my brother already went home and I've never been to this school and I've only been in this stupid country for three we-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Kate Anne held up her hands to cut her off. "I've never technically taken this train before either. I'm Katelyn Anne by the way, but you can call me Kate Anne or just Kate. One of the two, it doesn't really matter."

"Oh. I'm Ana Maria Armande. Sorry for being so rude. I'm just completely panicking."

"It's okay. So, have you ever actually been through a platform like this before?" asked Kate.

"Well, not exactly," admitted Ana Maria, biting on her fingernails.

"Okay, Let's go together then."

"Hey Harry, look at those two girls over there. They look about our age, but I've never seen them before. They both seem to be in Gryffindor though," said Hermione.

"That's odd. I suppose we could ask them to sit with us on the train so we could get to know them," said Harry.

"Great idea Harry!" agreed Hermione, and she rushed off to deliver the invitation.

"Was that really such a good idea Harry?" asked Ron. "Do we really need more girls hanging around with us? Remember how Parvati and Padma were at the Yule Ball last year?"

"I thought maybe if we did Hermione would have someone to talk girl talk with. You know, things she can't tell us."

"What couldn't Hermione tell us?' asked Ron, surprised at the thought that she couldn't tell them something. "Hey, that ones pretty cute though," said Ron.

"Which one?"

"The blonde one you git," replied Ron as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Besides, the dark-haired one reminds me of someone I don't like, but I can't quite put my finger on it."

"Oh well, let's just go say hi already," said Harry, rolling his eyes at Ron's ridiculous reasoning based solely on the girl's appearance.

"Hi, I'm Hermione Granger!" a bushy-haired girl exclaimed, waving her hand in greeting.

"Hello, I'm Ana Maria, and this is Kate Anne. Pleased to meet you," Ana Maria offered back with no hesitation, a giant smile spreading across her face. Kate however, gave merely a small smile and slight wave.

Before Hermione could get another word in, Harry and Ron appeared alongside her. "Come on, 'Mione. We need to get on the train now if we want any chance of being able to get a compartment together," Harry complained.

"Where did you two come from?" Ana Maria's smile only grew when she noticed Ron.

"Well, let's see, shall we? My mum's name is Molly and my dad's name is Arthur…" he started to explain until Harry nudged him. Hermione shook her head, and Ana Maria giggled. Ron sent her a handsome smile.

"Let's just get on the train," Hermione grumbled.

As everyone searched for a compartment, Ana Maria whispered into Kate Anne's ear, "That red-haired boy is adorable."

"Whatever you say," was Kate's response.

They all somehow managed to cram themselves into one compartment. After they sat down, Ana Maria inquired, "We never got the names of you," pointing at Ron and Harry.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron piped up. "What's your name?"

"I'm Ana Maria Armande," she said and then nudged Kate Anne.

"Huh? Wha…oh I'm Kate Anne," she replied, offhandedly. She wasn't really paying too much attention to the conversation anyway.

"What about you?" Ana Maria asked Harry. He lifted his bangs, which he had convinced his aunt to let grow out over the summer, to reveal the scar for them. "You're Harry Potter!" she squealed.

"Yup, that's me," replied Harry.

"Wow," said an exasperated Ana Maria.

"And I'm Ron Weasley, his best friend," repeated Ron, desperately trying to earn Ana Maria's attention back.

Hermione decided to interject before Ron and the Ana Maria girl could completely take over the conversation. "So, hat kind of families are you from? My parents are both muggles."

"Well, it's kind of a long story," began Ana Maria. "My mum died giving birth to me, and my dad committed suicide a year later. I have a sister, my twin, Adrianna who's twelve minutes older than me. She had to stay in France for a few more weeks for some personal business. Right now, the only ones living in our new manor are my brother Nicolas and I. He's twenty. After my dad died, we lived with my Aunt Amelie and my Uncle Louie, except last year my Aunt was killed by a few of Voldemort's followers," everyone flinched at the use of the name except for Harry and Kate, "Oh, sorry. Anyway, when we moved here, they put my uncle in Saint Mungos. They were both great Aurors. I've been in England for three weeks now. My sister and I used to go to Beauxbatons."

"Wow that must be really horrible. I hope things get better," sympathized Ron, reaching across the compartment to pat her hand. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, it must be," agreed Harry, "Well, what about you Kate?"

"Well," said Kate Anne, "My dad's a wizard, but I don't know anything about my mum. I've never met her and my dad won't talk about her. He gets really aggravated if I bring her up. I tried to find something in the manor about her, but he'd thrown everything about her out by the time I was old enough to think about it."

"That's really interesting," Harry said. "So why haven't we seen you around Hogwarts before? Did you just transfer from another school, too?"

Kate shook her head. "No, I've always gone to Hogwarts. But up until this year I had private lessons with all the teachers. My dad's idea. I told him I wanted to be in regular classes with other students this year."

Suddenly the compartment door slid open and in stepped Malfoy and his cronies. "Look, it's Weasel, Potty, and the Mudblood. I see you guys have found some new morons to hang around with."

"Beat it Malfoy," snapped Ron.

"Touchy, touchy Weasley, and you, Granger…." Draco's voice trailed off as he noticed Kate Anne in the corner. She was quite pretty, with long black hair and dark green eyes. The only thing Draco could not wrap his mind around was the fact that her robes stated she was in Gryffindor.

The train abruptly came to a stop, causing Draco to lose his footing. He toppled over and landed right on top of Kate Anne. "Draco Malfoy. Pleased to meet you," Draco awkwardly introduced himself, completely flustered.

"I'm K…Kate A…Anne. N…Nice to meet you t…too…" she stuttered. Draco climbed off her, swept her a bow, sneered at the others, and swiftly left the compartment with Crabbe and Goyle trailing behind.

"Bloody Hell! That guy is a jerk!" shouted Ana Maria, hoping the Slytherin trio heard her.

"You guys should stay clear of him," warned Harry, "He's bad news, same goes for his pals, Crabbe and Goyle."

"He certainly seemed like it," agreed Ana Maria.

Kate Anne, unsure of what to think, didn't say anything. She simply straightened her robes and follow the group of Gryffindors off the train.

As they entered the Great Hall, Kate Anne scanned the head table. Upon making eye contact with the correct staff member, she sent him a small wave.

Of course, the action didn't go unnoticed by Ana Maria. "Who are you waving to?" she pried.

"Uh…no one," said Kate, hurriedly dropping her hand to her side. "Involuntary muscle spasm."

Ana Maria didn't have time to continue harassing her about it though, as Ron smiled at her again, completely distracting her.

They all sat down together at the Gryffindor table. Ron made a point of grabbing a seat next to Ana Maria. "Where the bloody hell is all the food?" Ron began complaining after a few minutes. "Will they get on with it already? I'm starving."

"Oh can it, Ron. They're sorting the first years," said Hermione.

"I know what they're doing, Hermione. Oh look it's the ferret," laughed Ron, as he caught sight of Malfoy. Everyone at the Gryffindor table started laughing hysterically, except for Ana Maria, who was sporting a confused smile, and Kate Anne, who was slowly rubbing her temples as if she had a headache. Malfoy glared across the room at them.

Once the sorting was finished, Dumbledore went his usual beginning-of-the-year announcements. Towards the end, however, he announced that there would be a ball for all of the major holidays for years three through seven.

Once Dumbledore had finished his welcome-back speech, the food began to appear on the table. "Finally!" exhaled Ron and began stuffing his face as if there was no tomorrow.

Once everyone had had their fill of dinner, they began to make their way upstairs to the Gryffindor common room. They talked about anything and everything. "I'm really glad I met you Ron, you're a really great guy," confessed Ana Maria just before they said the password to the Fat Lady. "You, Harry, and Hermione have really made my first day at a new school go so smoothly."

Ron gave her a crooked smile. "It's what we do."

Ana Maria smiled back before giving the Fat Lady the password and heading up to the girls' dormitory.

**XXXX**

**Hope you enjoyed this little beginning snippet! There are about 10 more chapters already written, but obviously need tweaking! Reviews are always welcome! :)**


	2. The Vision

**A/N: Another chapter fixed up and reworked!**

**Disclaimer: I sadly only own Kate and Ana Maria.**

**XXXX**

"Morning!" exclaimed Ana Maria as she vigorously shook Kate Anne's shoulder. "Wake up! First day of classes!" Kate Anne rolled over to try to avoid the blonde who was way too peppy for the morning. "Come up, it'll be exciting!

"No, it's won't," moaned Hermione. She was sitting across the room on her bed, staring at her schedule, "We have double potions this morning."

Kate Anne perked up at that. "Potions? Really? I really like potions. It can't be that bad, can it?"

"Obviously you don't know Snape."

Once Kate hurried up and got dressed and ready to go, the girls made their way to the common room with Ana Maria bouncing along ahead of them. Somehow, Harry and Ron were both already in the common room and ready to go to breakfast, albeit both still looked half asleep. Harry was leaning against a couch, the couch probably being the only reason he was still upright, while Ron was furiously rubbing his eyes to try and wake up more.

Neville Longbottom happened to be dozing in an armchair as the girls entered the room. Ana Maria's loud, chipper voice startled him awake and in an instant he shouted and leapt up from the chair.

"What's wrong, Neville?" Harry asked, now more fully alert.

When Neville realized all eyes in the common room were now on him, he glanced one more time at the trio of girls before shift his gaze to his feet, embarrassed. "I thought for a second when I wasn't completely awake that she," he mumbled as he inclined his head towards Kate, "was Snape."

"Bloody Hell! I knew Kate Anne reminded me of someone I don't like!" exclaimed Ron.

Kate flushed and felt her throat tighten as she tried to find some sort of reply to either of the boys' statements. She opened her mouth to try to say something, anything, but nothing would come out.

"Ron!" Hermione admonished the redhead. "How could you say something so insulting!" Ron had the sense to follow Neville's actions and quickly found his shoes to be very interesting in an attempt to his the embarrassed flush creeping into his face.

Ana Maria quickly stepped in to try and diffuse the tension when she noticed Kate was still struggling to try to find something to say. "This is silly. Neville was obviously just confused or something because we startled him awake and I'm sure Ron didn't mean to be rude. Let's just go to breakfast, shall we?"

Hermione glared slightly at the blonde girl, not enjoying being contradicted in her reprimanding Ron, and exited the common room without waiting for anyone's response. Ron smiled sheepishly and began to leave with Harry. Ana Maria hurried across the room to keep up with the two boys.

"I'm sorry, Kate," Neville began to apologize. "I didn't mean to insult you."

Kate gave the awkward boy a small smile, "No worries. I'm not upset at all." Before he could continue with the unnecessary apology, she added, "Let's go to breakfast."

**XXXX**

When they finished breakfast, the group made their way down to the dungeons. No sooner than they had sat down in the classroom, Snape swooped into the room, black robes billowing out behind him, and began relating his expectations for the year. When he finished with that, he began pairing them up to begin working. He stopped in front of Ana Maria, "You, who are you?"

"I'm Ana Maria Armande, Sir. I transferred here from Beauxbatons this year."

"Good for you," he said with an annoyed face, "I'll give you the pleasure of working with Mr. Weasley today, Miss Armande. Good luck. Draco, you'll be with…" he scanned the room, his eyes landing on Kate Anne. "You'll be with Miss Kate." Snape went on pairing people up. "Potter, why don't you work with Longbottom? I'm interested to see if at least one of your two's skills have improved over the summer. Miss Granger, work with Miss Parkinson. Mr. Thomas and Mr. Crabbe can work together, as well as Miss Brown and Miss Bulstrode," he went on, making them all miserable.

Snape explained that they were making anti venom potion, as the hospital wing was in short supply, and the process would span over a few classes. "Try not to cause any explosions," he sneered, looking intentionally at Neville, as the instructions appeared on the board with a flick of his wrist.

Kate and Draco both started working together. Kate was very comfortable with potions, while Draco seemed to be quite nervous. When they both reached for the same ingredient at the same time, they bumped hands. Just then, Kate was starring across the lake at two figures in the distance. She walked closer to get a better look at the two figures and instantly recognized them as Draco and herself. They were arguing about something, but Kate couldn't figure out what, as the conversation was inaudible. The vision-Kate turned to leave, obviously fed up with the argument, and Draco grabbed her arm to prevent her from leaving. She shrugged his hand off, turning to leave when a far away voice called her name.

"Katelyn Anne!" Snape's sharp voice Kate snapped back to reality. One look told her exactly what he was thinking, and she got up and went to his desk so hopefully he wouldn't shout it across the classroom "What did you see?" demanded Snape in a hushed tone.

"Nothing," she lied. "Besides, even if I did see something, of what importance is it to you?"

"Don't you lie to me! I demand to know what you saw!"

"You don't have to know. It was personal."

"I have every right to know!"

Before the man could continue, Kate turned on her heel and stormed out of the classroom, leaving her books and supplies behind.

**XXXX**

When class let out, Neville quietly collected Kate's things, hoping the gesture would make up for his outburst from that morning, and went in search of her. After a long search, he managed to find her sitting outside, leaning against a tree and staring into space. "Are you alright?" he asked as he handed her her books.

"I'm fine," she replied quietly. "Thanks for bringing me my books."

Neville sat down next to her. "If you want to talk about it, I'm here for you. Snape's always yelling at me..."

Before Neville could continue, Dumbledore suddenly appeared. "Hello, Mr. Longbottom," he addressed the awkward Gryffindor. "I hope your first day of classes is going well. Miss Kate, if I might borrow you, it would seem we have some things to discuss."

Sighing, Kate dragged herself to her feet. "Oh, fine. I'll have to talk to him sooner or later, so I might as well get it over with. I'll see you later, Neville. Thanks again for bringing my books."

Soon, Kate was sitting in Dumbledore's office, being offered tea while she waited impatiently for Snape to arrive. Finally, quite a bit later, Snape stormed into the office.

"Now, Severus. Kate. I want you two to work out this little argument. We simply cannot have you fighting right now.

"What do you mean we can't be fighting right now? Is something wrong?" asked Kate, suddenly alarmed.

The headmaster sighed. The girl was very quick witted. "There has been some evidence brought to my attention that indicates Voldemort may know that Severus is spying on him. We need you to be open and honest with your visions, my dear, especially if they may validate that Severus may be in danger."

"I completely understand that, Headmaster," Kate Anne agreed. "However, I do have visions that have absolutely nothing to do with that, and when they are of a personal nature, I believe I have the right to keep them to myself."

"Severus? What do you have to say to that?"

"I was only looking out for her best interests. Those visions could be dangerous!" he retorted, glancing over at the girl sitting next to him.

"I don't need your protection all the time! I thought that's why we agreed I could go into regular classes this year, so I could have a more normal, less sheltered life!"

"If you wish to be responsible for determining whether your visions are worthy of being shared with the headmaster and myself, I think it is about time you began brewing the potions that keep the majority of them at bay yourself."

Although she was irate, Kate managed to keep a calm face on. She was confident in her potions abilities and told Snape and Dumbledore so. "If that's everything," she concluded, picking up her books, "then I need to be getting to my next class." She left the room before either of the men could stop her.

Snape shook his head sighing at the girl's stubbornness.

**XXXX**

**This was a tough chapter to rework. Hope you all enjoyed it! As always, reviews are most welcome!**


	3. The Arrival of Adrianna

**A/N: Sorry this one took so long to get fixed up and uploaded! I received my first acceptance into a PhD program for this fall, so I've been trying to get everything in order and figured out for that! Thanks for everybody's patience :)**

**Disclaimer: As always, I only own Kate Anne, Ana Maria, and now Adrianna as well.**

**XXXX**

Running late due to the impromptu meeting with Dumbledore and Snape, Kate Anne was making her way through the empty hallways to her next class. She tugged on her bag, pulling it up higher on her shoulder, when it was tugged out of her grasp completely. She whirled around to find Draco Malfoy, a smirk on his face, holding her bag.

"Give me my bag back," Kate demanded, holding her hand out towards the blonde Slytherin.

"Why're you in such a rush to get to Divination?" he asked, still holding on to the back. "Come on, we can go do something interesting. The class is worthless anyway."

Kate Anne's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to class with or without my bag. If you don't give it to me now, I'll just tell Dumbledore you stole it later."

"You just want to go spend time with those Gryffindor idiots you sat with on the train," Draco sneered as he tossed the bag to the floor. "You'll eventually realize that I'm a far better friend than an enemy."

Kate ignored the comment, and Draco stalked off as she picked up her bag.

**XXXX**

A few moments later, Kate Anne barged into her Divination class. As everyone turned around to see what all the commotion was, Professor Trelawney said in an airy voice, "Come take a seat between Miss Brown and Miss Patil, and join us in our discussion about the position of Venus."

As she sat in her seat, the two girls leaned in, and one whispered, "Hi, I'm Lavender and that's Parvati."

"I'm Kate Anne," whispered Kate in reply.

Parvati eyes widened excitedly at the introduction, and she whispered, "I've heard Neville Longbottom fancies you!"

Before Kate could reply, Lavender piped up, unable to keep the gossip she'd heard quiet, "Oh, I heard Draco Malfoy has his eye on you as well! Pansy was complaining that you were all he could talk about!"

Kate felt her face heating up with and tried to change the subject. "Let's just focus on class..." she trailed off, opening up her book and trying to tune the other two girls out.

After sitting through class and having to listen to Lavender and Parvati's constant gossiping, Kate Anne was finally glad when she was able to talk to Ron and Harry. The boys were laughing at the ridiculousness of the class. Kate chose to ignore most of their comments as they walked exited the classroom, as Divination was her favorite class. Out of nowhere, Ron asked, "Where's Ana Maria? I thought she was in Divination with us?"

"No, I think she decided to take Arithmancy with Hermione," Kate replied, finally happy to have Ron distracted from making fun of her favorite course. "They're both probably in the library working." Suddenly she felt an aching behind her eyes.

"Let's go find them then," Harry suggested. "We can all go get something for lunch together."

"I'll meet you guys in the dining hall," Kate Anne blurted out as she rushed off before the boys could try to argue otherwise.

**XXXX**

In the library, Hermione was attempting to explain the Arithmancy homework that they were assigned. Finally Ana Maria gave up and yelled out in frustration, "This is ridiculous! Why do those dolts give us so much bloody homework on the first bloody day of school?" throwing her books on the floor and placing her head in her hands.

"I thought you were supposed to be quiet in the library," Ron laughed quietly as he picked up Ana Maria's books.

Ana Maria's head popped back up at the sound of Ron's voice. "Thanks," she smiled tiredly. "Long morning." Hermione bristled at the attention Ana Maria was getting from Ron.

The door to the library open again. Ron was the only person to look at who entered. He looked back and forth between the table Ana Maria and Hermione were at and the person in the doorway a few times before muttering, "What the bloody hell is going on here?"

"What are you talking about, Ron?" Hermione asked, clearly aggravated, as she hurriedly straightened her parchments and books before shoving them into her bag.

"That!" said a frantic Ron, pointing at the person who'd just walked in. Ana Maria and Hermione glanced in the direction Ron was gesturing. The girl was the mirror image of Ana Maria.

"Adrianna!" exclaimed Ana Maria rushing over and embracing her twin in a hug tight enough to strangle the life out of her. "You're early!"

"I'm happy to see you too but too much love!" replied Adrianna, gasping for air.

"Ah, je suis désolée," she said, releasing Adrianna from the death grip she was holding her in.

"Merci. Now I can breathe again," Adrianna replied sarcastically while rubbing her now sore neck. "The headmaster suggested that I check the library to find you."

"You guys are twins?" Ron asked, still trying to comprehend the scene in front of him.

"Uh, yeah. I told you that," Ana Maria started, "on the train."

Trying to look less dumb, Ron babbled, "You didn't mention you were identical!"

Ana Maria just laughed lightly. She moved on to introductions to get past Ron's momentary shock. "Everybody, this is my sister, Adrianna. Adrianna, these are my friends, Ron, Hermione, and Harry." She pointed to each person as she listed their names. Ron managed to nod his head in greeting, while Hermione smiled tensely, muttering a hello as she exited the room.

"Nice to meet you." Harry was the only person to come up with a real greeting as he smiled brightly at Ana Maria's twin. "Are you guys hungry? Kate Anne went ahead to the dining hall. She said she'd meet us there."

"I'm starving," Ron found his voice again.

"Well then let's go eat!" Ana Maria said happily. As they group left the library, she rambled on to Adrianna, "I can't wait for you to meet Kate. It's her first year here, just like us..."

**XXXX**

They found Kate Anne sitting alone at the Gryffindor table. She was reading a book while nibbling on a piece of bread.

"Why'd you rush off ahead of us if bread was all you were going to eat?" Ron asked as he plopped down on the bench across from her.

Ana Maria interrupted before Kate needed to come up with an excuse for Ron, "Kate! This is my sister, Adrianna! This is Kate Anne."

Kate offered her hand to the blonde girl who wasn't talking, assuming she was Adrianna (she wasn't sure she could tell them apart by appearance), "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Adrianna took the offered hand and shook it. "Ana Maria really seems to like you. She can't stop talking about how nice you are."

"You look really pale," Ana Maria said, placing her hand against Kate's forehead to see if she had a fever. Kate wince at the contact, her head still throbbing. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Kate forced herself to smile. "Just a headache. Waiting for a potion to kick in and get rid of it."

**XXXX**

After lunch, Ana Maria wanted to make another attempt at her Arithmancy homework, so they headed back to the common room. "I'm tired. I'm going to go take a nap," yawned Ron.

"I'll wake you up before our next class. Don't worry," Ana Maria assured him.

"You're not supposed to go into the boys' dormitory." He smirked at her as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'm still going to wake you up!" she called after him. "No matter what you say!"

**XXXX**

**Three chapters reworked and back up now! This one's quite a bit shorter than the first two...I had to cut large hunks of the original out to keep the continuity correct. Anyways, as always, hope you enjoyed reading and reviews are appreciated!**


	4. Shopping Escapades

**A/N: I'm so terrible about updating. XD So sorry about that. I've been working on fixing up this chapter for days. Literally. DAYS. I really had to remove huge hunks and completely rewrite them. Anyway, now that my rant is over, just an fyi for my readers, I'll be going out of town for the first week of March (yay spring break!) so I won't be able to update then. Hopefully I'll be able to get the next chapter up by the end of next week.**

**Disclaimer: As always, I don't own anybody other than Kate Anne, Ana Maria, and Adrianna.**

**XXXX**

The next few days of classes went by smoothly, with little homework and no outbursts from or incidents involving anyone. Adrianna had been sorted into Ravenclaw and somehow was spending all her free time outside of classes with Harry, and Ana Maria was not handling the little amount of time her sister had for her very well. It was Friday afternoon, and she was ranting to Ron while he tried unsuccessfully to teach her to play Wizard's chess.

"She's been ignoring me all week," Ana Maria sighed, moving a knight to some random spot with no real thought. "I thought when she got to Hogwarts we'd be spending all of our time together again."

Ron winced at her random choice of moves for the game. He was trying to play poorly to make the game last longer, but she was making it difficult. "I'm sure she's not doing it on purpose," he tried to reassure her. "She's probably just getting used to Hogwarts." When she just sighed in response and made another completely random move, he tried to change the subject, "Come on, cheer up. We're going to Hogsmeade tomorrow. That'll be fun."

**XXXX**

Kate Anne was sitting in the library with Neville, trying desperately to make him understand the topic for the essay that was due in Potions the following Monday. She felt bad for her classmate; he tried so hard to get it right and could just never get it because he would always get himself so worked up over not understanding. And the fact that Snape was a little...overbearing...a fact which she knew all too well.

Speaking of Snape, of course he would choose the moment when she was trying to help the student who was most afraid of him to show up. "I am fairly certain," his quiet voice echoed throughout the silent library, "that you need to be brewing some potions, Kate."

Neville, of course, jumped, knocking the heavy potions textbook to the floor. Snape just stared silently, with one eyebrow raised at the boy's antics. Kate sighed, and began to pack up her books. "Sorry, Neville." She slung her bag over her shoulder and stood up from the table. "He's right. I forgot about it. Can we work on together again later this weekend?"

Neville had finally composed himself, his book back on the table, and was sitting in his chair again. "Sure, we can. See you later, Kate." Kate gave him a wave in response from the library doorway as she followed Snape out.

**XXXX**

Once down in the dungeons, Snape tried to strike up conversation with Kate, "What were you helping Mr. Longbottom with?"

"Potions," she replied curtly. When Snape snorted in response, as if to imply it was a futile attempt, Kate snapped back, "He's not that bad a potions! It's just that he's so nervous. You're so horrible to him."

"The boy is hopeless."

"No, he's not!" Kate was shouting now, her voice echoing off the walls of the empty dungeons. "He might not get something here or there, but he's too afraid to ask for help because you're so mean to him!" She crossed her arms across her chest and refused to talk to the man any more. When they arrived at the secluded room at the end of a hall in the dungeons, she went in and shut the door behind her, locking Snape out. There she stayed for the rest of the evening, brewing potions to diminish her visions.

**XXXX**

The next morning Ana Maria came downstairs and met Ron, Harry, and Hermione in the common room. She glanced around, expecting to see her mirror image near Harry. Harry realized who she was looking for and spoke up, "Adrianna is waiting for us in the entrance hall."

"We've got to wait for Kate Anne. She must be in the lavatory or something because she wasn't in the dormitory when I woke up."

"So worried about finding Adrianna that you miss the fact that I'm right behind you." Ana Maria whirled around with a smile on her face to see Kate Anne sprawled across a couch reading some muggle book named after one of the planets. Kate smirked up over the top of the book. "Come on, let's get going." She tossed the book on an end table and exited the room with the rest of the group.

**XXXX**

The group arrive at Hogsmeade shortly after. Harry and Adrianna wandered off together quickly, and after a while Ron and Ana Maria also managed to wander off by themselves. "I'm going to go see if I can find a new quill," Kate Anne said to Hermione. "Do you want to come with me?"

"No," Hermione glared after the path Ron and Ana Maria had taken. "No, thanks." Kate shrugged and headed off in the direction of the quill shop.

"Evil little tramps aren't they?" said Pansy as she walked up behind Hermione.

"What are you talking about, Parkinson?" Hermione demanded.

"Well," she started, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "while she doesn't seem too interested in him, that Kate girl has my Draco fascinated. And that's taking his attention away from me, which I'm none to happy about. It's obvious the one blonde girl has stolen the Weasley boy away from you."

"Where are you going with this?" Hermione was getting wary now.

"I think we can help each other."

"How so?"

"Let's go into the Three Broomsticks and talk."

**XXXX**

Ron and Ana Maria had made their way back down the path, and he noticed Hermione and Pansy walking into the Three Broomsticks. He pointed this quite peculiar site out to Ana Maria. "Hermione and that creepy Slytherin girl?" she asked. "What could they be up to?"

"I smell conspiracy!" cried Ron.

"You're nuts," said Ana Maria shaking her head and laughing.

**XXXX**

Meanwhile, Kate Anne had finished at the quill shop and was making her way to Honeydukes. She passed the Quidditch shop. Kate noticed Harry and Adrianna in the window and her and Harry exchanged waves.

As she turned to continue on her way, she found herself face to face with Draco. "Hey, Kate Anne," he smiled his best smile. "Want to go get a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks together?"

"No, thank you," she said, trying to sidestep around the Syltherin.

"Oh, come on. Your...friends...won't even notice you're gone."

"I said no," she was beginning to get irritate and turned to leave, but Draco grabbed onto her arm roughly, pulling her back.

"What do you see in those Gryffindorks? There's something so Slytherin about you, yet you're in Gryffindor."

Yanking herself out of his grasp, she glared at him before retorting, "Well, first, they don't grab onto me when I try to leave." And with that she turned and headed back the way she came.

She didn't really have a direction, but eventually ended up running into Ana Maria and Ron. Ana Maria smiled when she saw Kate, but the smile faded quickly. "Are you alright? You look angry. What happened?"

"Nothing. It's nothing," sighed Kate Anne. "We should probably get going to the robe shop anyway." Ana Maria quickly said good bye to Ron and hurried off after Kate, who had just kept on walking.

**XXXX**

Once inside the store, Ana Maria picked out a million dress robes to try on. She had to try on every single one while Kate Anne waited to appraise it. In the end, she finally decided on a black spaghetti strap dress, with a flowing skirt with white stars scattered across it. "Do I finally get to even look at the dresses?" Kate was still a little angry from her encounter with Draco and waiting continually on Ana Maria to ask her opinion was beginning to get on her nerves..

"Sure. Go ahead," said Ana Maria as she swirled around in front of the mirror, watching the black tulle of her dress float around her.

Kate Anne rummaged through the dresses until she found one that was appealing to her. It was a black cocktail type dress with a dark green pattern embroidered on it. She slipped into a dressing room and tried it on. She knew that it was perfect, but went to find Ana Maria for her opinion anyway. Ana Maria's jaw hit the floor. "What the hell happened to you?" she inquired staring at the various different scars covering Kate Anne's arms and shoulders.

"The dress, Ana Maria, not my skin."

"Oh, the dress looks fantastic. But what happened?"

"I don't exactly know." When Ana Maria looked like she was about to protest that answer she added, "Honestly. I don't know."

"Well, let's find you some gloves then. We don't want everyone's reaction to be the same as mine."

**XXXX**

**Thanks for reading! :) I hope you enjoyed. As always reviews are appreciated!**


	5. The Conspiracy

**A/N: Woo! I'm back! Vacation's over, it was a nice week in North Carolina :) Anyways, yay next chapter fixed up and posted! This on was surprisingly actually really easy to tweak to fit in with the alterations to the original storyline. I ended up spending most of the time just trying to word things a little better and give more detail. Sorry it's still the shortest chapter out of all of them though :/ There's not much to it, but it's still important.**

**Disclaimer: As usual, Kate, Ana Maria, and Adrianna are the only one's that belong to me.**

**XXXX**

Hermione and Pansy sat at a table in the back corner of The Three Broomsticks. "So, how are we supposed to be able to help each other?" questioned Hermione, her eyes flitting around the room looking out for anyone watching them pair suspiciously.

"Well that's easy," Pansy said rolling her eyes. "We make Weasley hate the blonde girl and Draco hate Kate Anne."

"Oh, that's brilliant," Hermione snorted. "And how are we supposed to go about doing that? Should I just walk up to Ron and say 'By the way, Ana Maria said she thinks you're a git'?"

Pansy's eyes narrowed at Hermione's sarcasm. "You're supposed to be the brilliant one here. You figure something out and I'll carry out whatever that plan is."

Hermione sat back in her chair and thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose a little sabotage would do the trick."

"What did you have in mind?"

"What will it be ladies?" asked Madam Rosmerta, coming up to their table, her sparkling emerald shoes tapping on the ground cutting into their conversation. Hermione flushed, embarrassed to be seen lurking in a dark corner talking to Pansy Parkinson.

"Two butterbeers and make it snappy," demanded Pansy, not even bothering to look at the barmaid.

"Yes, Ma'am," she replied, playfully saluting her and marching off, humming a little tune.

"You were saying about sabotage?" Pansy prompted Hermione when she didn't immediately continue.

"Right. There's this simple potion called a Polyjuice Potion. It transforms you into another person for one hour, as long as you have some sort of essence of the person. Oh and animals don't work too well by the way." Hermione shook her head to clear it of the none so pleasant memories. "I could easily get something off of Kate Anne and Ana Maria, seeing as they're both in Gryffindor. Some of the ingredients aren't available to students so I'll be counting on you to get them from Professor Snape. I can get the rest," she explained.

"It sounds good so far, but how is transforming into Draco and Weasley hate them?"

"Well, you, of course, know of Neville's little crush on our good friend Katie?"

"Everyone does."

"Here you are ladies, two hot butterbeers," Madam Rosmerta interrupted again, setting the butterbeers on the table. She stood there for a few moments, her hand slightly cupped, as if awaiting something.

Pansy just stared at her for a few moments, a look of annoyance on her face until Hermione, completely mortified, muttereed "Oh, for goodness sake," as she began rummaging in her pocket for some gold.

"Wait, I got this, Granger," stated Pansy holding her hand up to stop Hermione from paying once she realized why the barmaid was still standing there. She thought it an absurd idea to let a filthy little mudblood pay for anything for her. It was bad enough that she was conspiring with one. She reached into her pocket producing several coins and hurling them at Madam Rosmerta, making her leap to catch them all at once. After she caught them and collected herself, she stormed off muttering under her breath about kids these days.

Sighing, Hermione continued, hoping to end the conversation and leave the Three Broomsticks as fast as possible, "Anyway, what would Draco do if he saw Kate with Neville? Would he still want her?"

Pansy scoffed. "With a pathetic person like Longbottom? No way, that would make her as pathetic as him. Where are you going with this?"

"Well, one of us could use the Polyjuice potion to transform into Kate and appear as if she's interested in Neville," Hermione spelled it out slowly for the Slytherin girl. "That way, whether the real Kate has any interest in Neville or not, Draco will think she does, because of what the fake one did."

"I like the way you're thinking so far, Granger." A wicked grin was spread across the girl's pug-like features.

"Wonderful. Anyway, same concept with Ana Maria. One of us transforms into her with the potion, fools around with some random guy, and that's the end of her and Ron. But who could we get to fool around with her? I don't know anyone else who has a crush on her..." Hermione trailed off thinking.

"That Zacharias Smith kid is pretty thick. And I'm pretty sure Weasley dislikes him quite a bit."

"Perfect. Then that's what we'll do."

"Good, now what do we do with the bodies?" Pansy said rather calmly as she sipped her butterbeer.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione was fairly alarmed at Pansy's nonchalance.

"The bodies, what do we do with them while we're Ana Maria and Kate Anne?"

"We're not going to kill anybody, you dolt!" Hermione shrieked, attracting some attention from the nearest tables.

"Then how are we going to get them out of the way while we're doing all this?"

"We knock them out or something until we're all done," Hermione hurriedly blurted out. "A stunning spell or a sleeping potion. Something like that."

"Oh, fine," Pansy rolled her eyes like killing them was the obvious and easier method. "Now when are we going to initiate our plan?"

"Wow, big words, did you get hit over the head with a dictionary recently or something?"

"Haha very funny," Pansy scowled. "When are you planning on starting this?" she asked again.

"I was thinking, since the potion takes about a month to make, we could start it in November and go through with the actual plan during the winter holidays."

"Fantastic. Let's get started then."

"I just said November, Pansy. Don't you listen?"

"Yes, I do listen." Pansy was obviously starting to get very frustrated with Hermione now. "I meant that we should start gathering the things that we need."

"Are you sure you can get the things we need from Snape? We also need him to sign a slip so we can get the book. It's in the restricted section of the library."

"There's a restricted section in the library? Well, sure I can get a note and the ingredients. I'll tell him that I wanted to look more into potions because they're so fascinating."

"I'm surprised you even knew there was a library."

The sarcastic comment was the last straw. The plan was in place so there was no need for Pansy to force herself to converse with Hermione any longer. "Well, I best be off, Granger," she announced as she stood up. "Can't be caught talking to a mudblood like you. We'll meet up one day in the library in the beginning of November. Send me an owl when you decide on the date," she arranged as she walked out the door, leaving Hermione to sit all alone looking as stunned as if a shoe had just spoken to her.

Hermione looked down at her butterbeer, which she hadn't touched, and mumbled to herself, "I don't have a good feeling about working with Pansy, but I just really don't like that Ana Maria. She doesn't deserve Ron. Not after everything he and I have been through together."

She left the completely full mug sitting on the table and began the trudge back up to the castle by herself, trying to ignore the enormous guilt welling up in her gut.

**XXXX**

**Hope you enjoyed it! As always, reviews are always welcome! I'd love to know what people think of where this is heading :) Thank you to everybody who's been kind enough to stick with me and the story as I work through fixing up what's written. We're getting closer and closer to the end of what I already have down, so I'll have to start writing new stuff soon!**


	6. Defense Against the Dark Arts Class

**A/N: Woah okay, I'm back! Sorry it took so much longer than usual! Last week I ended up driving halfway across the country to spend the next few months living with my fiancé before I end up going to graduate school :) Anyways, sorry about that. Here's the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I only own Kate, Ana Maria, and Adrianna**

**XXXX**

The next morning when Hermione woke up, that guilt welling up in her stomach had not diminished. She knew that working with Pansy was completely wrong, but she couldn't think of any other way. She felt horrible that she had agreed to use Kate Anne in such a horrific plot, especially since she hadn't done anything, but Hermione wanted Ron's attention focused back on her. She sighed and dragged herself out of bed. Once dressed she headed down to the common room.

**XXXX**

Down in the common room, Ana Maria was being her usual bright, chipper self. "Oh the Hogsmeade weekend was so fun! I can't wait to go again! Everything was so welcoming and bright and amazing..."

"Ana Maria, would you please shut up!" shouted Kate Anne, interrupting Ana Maria's rant.

Ana Maria looked slightly hurt by Kate's outburst. "Well, aren't you crabby this morning."

"Sorry," Kate mumbled, rubbing her temples. "Headache."

"Well go see Madam Pomfrey then," Ana Maria responded. "You're no fun when you've got a headache."

"Madam Pomfrey can't do anything about it!" Kate hissed. She picked up all of her things and stalked out of the room without another word.

Hermione arrived in the common room just in time to see Kate Anne storm off. "What was that all about?" she inquired.

"Ana Maria was talking, I guess a little too loud for Kate's liking because she had a headache, and she snapped at Ana Maria," Ron explained. "And when Ana Maria suggested going to Madam Pomfrey she left."

"She was really irritated," Ana Maria said quietly. "I hope she's not mad at me. I was only trying to help."

"I'm sure she's not," Ron assured her. "It's obvious you were only trying to give her some advice. Hey," he continued, "has anybody seen Harry? We were waiting for him to go to breakfast."

"I believe I heard him making plans last night to meet Adrianna for breakfast," Hermione said.

"Oh," was all that Ron could say in response. He wasn't going to make a big deal about Adrianna and Harry, especially because of how upset Ana Maria was about the pair's newly formed inseparability the other day. "Well, let's be off then," he said, taking Ana Maria by the arm to lead her out of the common room. Hermione trailed behind them, torn between her guilt and her jealousy.

**XXXX**

Kate Anne dropped down into a seat at the Gryffindor table in the great hall. She was having a hard time coping with all of Ana Maria's constant energy. And to top everything off, her headache was most certainly not diminishing. She groaned, beginning to rub her temples.

"Kate? Are you all right?" Her head jerked upward, the sudden motion causing her head to throb even more. Neville had sat himself down next to her, and his concern was written all over his face.

"I'm fine," she lied, smilingly lightly as she ran one hand through her black locks. "Just a bit of a headache. Nothing serious."

"Would you like me to take you to the hospital wing then?" Neville began to get back up from the table, ready to help. "Madam Pomfrey has potions for headaches."

"No really. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" She tried to make her smile more realistic to reassure him. "Now sit back down." She tugged on the sleeve on his robe, pulling him back into his seat, just as Ron, Ana Maria, and Hermione entered the Great Hall.

"I'm so sorry, Kate!" Ana Maria told Kate Anne as she plopped down on the other side of her. She wrapped her arms around Kate in a tight hug as she continued, "I didn't mean to make you angry!"

"It's all right, Ana Maria. I shouldn't have yelled like I did. I'm sorry too," she managed to get out, despite Ana Maria's body-crushing hug.

"So we're still friends?"

"Of course," replied Kate. As soon as she had said it, Ana Maria squeezed her harder.

**XXXX**

Hermione had sat at a distance from her usual group, closer to Harry and Adrianna, who had both wanted a more private breakfast together. She had chose the distance because being close to Kate made her feel even guiltier, and the location she was sitting in gave her a much better vantage point of Pansy. She had been able to obtain her half of the ingredients more easily than she first believed, and hoped to get the potion going early. Sitting at the far end of the table would allow her to make sure Pansy agreed to what the letter said.

Hermione watched as one of the owlry's owls swooped down in front of Pansy and offered the note tied on its leg to her. Pansy removed the note and shooed the bird without thanking it. She carefully unrolled it, and began reading:

_Pansy,_

_I have all the supplies you ordered. Please meet me near the unused girls' lavatory during lunch and I will give them to you._

Hermione held her breath as Pansy read it. The Slytherin girl looked quite confused for a moment, but then a look of recognition spread across her pug-like features. She looked up and smirked at Hermione. The meeting was silently agreed upon.

The whole group combined together after breakfast to head off to their lessons. Adrianna was the only one going a separate way, but despite this fact, she walked with them all the way to their class.

**XXXX**

When they arrived at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Adrianna sighed, planted a kiss on Harry's cheek and walked off towards her class. Harry had a hard time concealing his smile as the group filed into the classroom.

Inside, behind the desk sat a short, fat woman wearing a pink cardigan. After the whole class had entered and sat down, she stood and began to speak in a high-pitched voice, "Well, good afternoon! I'm Professor Umbridge. Please put your wands away, and get out your quills."

Everyone in the class inwardly groans as she began to explain that because of the many teachers they'd have had and the disruption to their education that constantly changing teachers had caused, they would start from the very basics. Harry, Ron, Kate Anne, and Ana Maria all pretended to write the notes that Umbridge had put of for them, while Hermione scratched away on her parchment.

"Now," she started once she believed everybody to be done copying notes, "I want you all to take out your copies of Defensive Magical Theory and begin reading on page 5."

Kate Anne sighed. Reading would only increase the headache that seemed to be threatening to cause her head to explode, and classes had only just begun. Surely Umbridge would understand, she thought. But just as she was going to ask to be excused, she collapsed. Hermione crying out her name had been the last thing she'd heard before everything went black.

**XXXX**

The first thing Kate Anne saw when she opened her eyes were the obsidian eyes of Snape. She winced at the sight, knowing she was in trouble. "Well, Miss Kate," Snape said, "Apparently, those potions of yours were not brewed correctly."

"Now, now Severus," reprimanded Dumbledore. "It was her first attempt. You cannot be too hard on her. She is, after all, a pupil in your class. And I believe there is quite a group of students outside waiting to see her. Classes have finished for the day, my dear," he said kindly to Kate Anne, who gave a small smile.

"I've given you enough of your potion to diminish the headache for about twenty-four hours," Snape informed her. "And I have supplied you with two more of that dose, just enough for you to try to brew your own again."

"Thank you, sir," Kate Anne said, hanging her head sadly. "May I see my friends now?"

"Yes, I shall take my leave," Dumbledore told his student, "But Professor Snape shall remain here with you until you are dismissed, as he is the only one that can help if your headache comes back." And with that, he left.

As soon as Dumbledore stepped outside, her five best friends stumbled in, all trying to get to her at once.

Ana Maria reached her first, "What happened? Are you all right? You just passed out! Bloody hell, you scared me!"

Kate Anne giggled at how upset Ana Maria seemed, "I had a headache, and I passed out, is all."

"That's not all, Kate," said Hermione suddenly from behind everyone standing around Kate's bed. "Otherwise, Umbridge wouldn't have brought you to the hospital wing and told me to get Professor Snape immediately. And he wouldn't be sitting here watching over you."

"Look, I don't want to talk about this now," Kate said, trying to avoid a touchy subject, but Snape spoke up for her.

"She has extreme Occlumency and Legilimency powers. In order to keep them under control, she must take a potion, which can only be brewed by myself. She made an attempt at brewing it today, and failed. And because she didn't report to me and tell me it didn't work, the pain overwhelmed her and caused her to faint," Snape said, enlightening the five students huddled around Kate.

Hermione pushed her way through the group to face Kate. "Why didn't you tell us?" she demanded, with a look of extreme hurt on her face. "You could've been reading our thoughts! Our personal thoughts without us even knowing!" she cried.

"But I didn't!" Kate insisted. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Well, I believe you!" and with that, Ana Maria bounced onto her bed and held her in another tight hug. "When can you come back to the common room?"

"Um, I don't know. It's really up to him," she nodded her head towards Snape. "Can I go now?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione's faces all registered shock at how casual she had asked their least favorite Professor.

Snape looked thoughtful for a moment, but then nodded his head. "If you need another dose, I shall be in my office."

Once Snape was out of sight, Kate climbed off the bed slowly, making sure she was stable and not going to faint again any time soon. As the group was making their way out of the hospital wing, Kate noticed someone familiar was missing. "Where's Neville?""

"He's in detention," Harry offered the answer. "That day when you stormed out of class in potions, he blew up his potion again and Snape gave him a few days worth of detention."

Noticing the look of disappointment on Kate's face, Ana Maria chimed in, "But he tried really hard to get out of it to be in the hospital wing with you today. Snape sent him out though. He's probably waiting in the common room for us." Kate smiled at that.

**XXXX**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next one's a biggie (not necessarily length-wise, I don't even know the word count on it, but definitely plot-wise!). As always, reviews are most welcome!**


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